Joan Didion Through the Years

A look at the life of the acclaimed author

By
Aria Darcella

Oct 25, 2017

Netflix

This week the long-awaited filmJoan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold will arrive on Netflix. In honor of the documentary, CR takes a look back at the legendary author's life, through her rising career to the moments that made her a style icon. Flip through the vintage images for yourself above.

Netflix

Portrait, year unknown

A native Californian, Didion attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA in English in 1956.

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Netflix

In New York, early 60's

As a recent graduate, Didion won an essay contest sponsored by Vogue, resulting in a position at the magazine. She worked there for seven years before publishing her first novel, Run, River.

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Getty

In California, 1967

Joan and her husband John Gregory Dunne, a writer who helped edit much of Didion's work, moved back to California in 1964.

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Netflix

With John in California, 1960s

In 1968 Didion published her first collection of non-fiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of essays about California in that decade.

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Netflix

A Candid Shot, date unknown

Over the years Didion contributed essay to publications such as The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Life magazine, and Vogue.

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Netflix

With her Stingray, 1968

Quite possibly her most famous portrait, the image of Didion with iconic car was most recently used for the cover of Terry Newman's Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore.

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At a party for "Play It As It Lays," 1972

The film was based on her novel of the same name, and Didion co-wrote the screenplay with her husband.

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Netflix

At a party, date unknown

Didion and Dunne adapted many screenplays together, including The Panic in Needle Park (based on a novel by James Mills), the 1976 version of A Star is Born, True Confessions (based on Dunne's novel), and Up Close and Personal.

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Pintrest

Sitting for a portrait, 1978

Didion is among the writers notable for ushering in the writing style "New Journalism" which mixes literary styles with reporting, adding in more subjectivity.

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With her husband, 1995

Didion continued to publish work throughout the 1980s and '90s, including fiction like Democracy and The Last Thing He Wanted, and non-fiction such as Salvador, Miami and After Henry.

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At home, 2003

2001's Political Fictions (which was actually non-fiction) featured Didion's writings on politics (and how they were covered by the media) from 1988 to 2000.

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Working on her Broadway adaptation, 2007

In 2003 Dunne passed away, leading Didion to work out her grief in her book The Year of Magical Thinking. The tome resonated with the public, and was even adapted for Broadway. Unfortunately, she lost her daughter two years later.

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At the Norman Mailer Writers Colony Benefit Gala, 2009

In the early 2000s Didion was awarded with a number of accolades, including the National Medal in Arts and Humanities from Barack Obama in 2013.

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Céline

Modeling for Céline, 2015

The French brand had previously used Didion as inspiration for advertising with an homage to her famous Stingray portrait. But nothing compared to the Juergen Teller-lensed campaign actually featuring Joan, which became a huge hit in the fashion world.

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